File-wrapper.



B. s. BLAINE.

FILE WRAPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1910.

Patented June 6,1911.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BOYD s. BLAINE, or CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS.

' FILE-WRAPPER.

' drawings.

This invention relates to file wrappers and is designed especially for use in connection with court files.

It is customary in the ofiice of a clerk of a court to have a number of drawers in each of which several files folded and inclosed in wrappers are placed, the folded file wrapper standing on one edge,that is, with the lines of fold extending vertically. It has been customary to hold such file wrapper folded about its contents by means of a rubber band encircling the whole, but this is very objectionable owing to the short life of rubber.

It is the object of my invention to provide a wrapper and means for holding it securely about the file contents without the use of an elastic band, a file that can be adapted easily and quickly to difierentsized bundles of papers, one that is as free as possible of bands or other fastening means on the outside of the folded file, one that is not rendered unduly thick and bulky at any one point between its edges by the fastening means, and one that can be easily and quickly manipulated to fasten it up or to unfasten it.

A further object is to improve file wrappers of this type in details hereinafter pointed out.

The means by which I have accomplished these objects are shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter specifically described.

That which I believe to be new will be set forth in the claims.

In the drawings,Figure 1 is a view of the outside face of my improved wrapper spread out fiatl Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central cross-section through the wrapper when folded and fastened. Fig. 4 is a central cross-section through the wrapper when buckled to fasten or to unfasten it. Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, being a View of the slidable plate and hook for fastening the end of the wrapper.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1911.

Application filed May 20, 1910. Serial No. 562,693.

Referring to the several figures of the drawings, in which corresponding parts are indicated by like reference characters,10

indicates a wrapper of Manila paper or other suitable material.

11 indicates a band, preferably a nonelastic tape, secured at one end to one end of the wrapper 10, passing through a suitable opening 12 in such wrapper at about its central point, and secured at its other end to the other end of said wrapper, being secured in the construction shown by an eye 13. As shown in Fig. 2, the tape 11 is preferably made a trifle shorter than the wrapper 10 for the reasons explained hereinafter.

l4 indicatesa plate provided with two slots 15-16 through which the tape 11 passes as shown in Fig. 2, the plate being thus easily adjusted along said tape and still being held firmly in any adjusted position thereon when. tension is put on said tape. 17 indicates a hook struck up from said plate, said hook projecting from the face of said plate just sufficiently to engage properly the eye 13 which is flattened slightly at its bearing side so that said hook can engage without projecting beyond the face of the eye.

In the use of my device, the wrapper is folded about the bunch of papers with the right-hand end of the wrapper as shown in Fig. 1 on the inside, the fold being made so as to bringthe plate 14: squarely on one face of the bunch of papers with the wrapper intervening, of course. The plate 14 is then slipped along the tape 11, if necessary, to bring it into proper position for the hook 17 to engage and hold the eye 13. The tape 11 being slightly shorter than the wrapper,

when the wrapper is folded snugly about the bunch of papers, the tape is sure to be tightened, bringing the hook 17, when the plate 14 is properly adjusted along the tape, exactly into position to engage the eye 13. With the plate 14 properly adjusted and the wrapper folded snugly about a bunch of papers as just described, the entire wrapper and contents are to be buckled as shown in Fig. 4:. While holding the file as a whole in such buckled position, the outer fold of the wrapper is allowed to straighten out slightly by its own resiliency, which brings the eye 13 beyond and in line with the hook 17 and when the file is thereafter permitted to straighten out as a whole the hook is engaged by the eye and thewrapper is secured.

The hook is unfa'stenedin practically the same way. The file as a whole is buckled, and the outer fold is then allowed to straighten out, which frees the eye from the hook.

By reason of the band passing through the wrapper, with the wrapper used as explained with a comparatively small bundle of papers, the tape 11 is almost entirely inclosed by the wrapper, leaving the outside surfaces of the wrapper plain and free from anything that would be likely to cause the file to catch on the file next to it. This is a great advantage, as will be readily understood. It will be understood that the opening 12 through which the tape 11 passes may be positioned otherwise than as shown in Fig. l to one side or the other,-that is, closer to one end or the other of the wrapper,to accommodate different-sized bunches of papers without having the tape extend for any material distance on the outside of the folded wrapper. It will be understood that the farther to the left in Fig. l the opening 12 is located the greater will be the extent of the adjustability of the plate 141: and hook l7 and therefore the greater will be the variation in the size of the bundle of papers properly accommodated. On the other hand, the farther the opening 12 were shifted to the right in Fig. l, the greater would be the bundle capable of being accom= modated by the wrapper without having the tape on the outside of the folded wrapper.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,-

1. The combination of a wrapper, a band secured at one end to one end of said wrapper, said band passing through an opening in said wrapper intermediate of its ends and having its other end secured to the other end of said wrapper, fastening means carried by one end of said wrapper, and means carried by said band adapted to cooperate with said fastening means for securing said wrapper in folded condition.

2. The combination of a wrapper, a nonelastic band secured at one end to one end of said wrapper, said band passing through an opening in said wrapper intermediate of its ends and having its other end secured to the other end of said wrapper, said band being slightly shorter than said wrapper, fastening means carried by one end of said wrapper, and means carried by said band on its opposite end adapted to cooperate with said fastening means for securing said wrap per in folded condition.

BOYD S. BLAINE.

Witnesses:

HARRY C. MARSH, HARRY D. OLDIIAM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

